Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §10.27.1

Repetition of History as the Same Drama with Different Actors

Passage 401 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Urges reflecting on the repetitive nature of history, keeping in mind that the courts and events of past rulers were merely the same dramas played by different actors.

§10.27.1Συνεχῶς ἐπινοεῖν πῶς πάντα τοιαῦτα, ὁποῖα νῦν γίνεται, καὶ πρόσθεν ἐγίνετο, καὶ ἐπινοεῖν γενησόμενα· καὶ ὅλα δράματα καὶ σκηνὰς ὁμοειδεῖς, ὅσα ἐκ πείρας τῆς σῆς ἢ τῆς πρεσβυτέρας ἱστορίας ἔγνως, πρὸ ὀμμάτων τίθεσθαι, οἷον αὐλὴν ὅλην Ἁδριανοῦ καὶ αὐλὴν ὅλην Ἀντωνίνου καὶ αὐλὴν ὅλην Φιλίππου, Ἀλεξάνδρου, Κροίσου· πάντα γὰρ ἐκεῖνα τοιαῦτα ἦν, μόνον δι’ ἑτέρων.
Constantly to reflect how all such things as now happen used to happen also in the past, and to reflect that they will happen in the future too; and to set before your eyes whole dramas and scenes of like kind, as many as you have known from your own experience or from older history, for example, the whole court of Hadrian, the whole court of Antoninus, the whole court of Philip, of Alexander, of Croesus; for all those were of such a kind, only with different actors.

Notes

  1. 10.27.1ἐπινοεῖν — An infinitive used independently (imperative infinitive) to express a command or exhortation addressed to oneself or the reader. The subsequent `τίθεσθαι` is used in the same construction.
  2. 10.27.1γενησόμενα — The future participle neuter plural accusative of `γίνομαι`, used substantively as the direct object of `ἐπινοεῖν`. It means 'things that are going to happen'.
  3. 10.27.1δι’ ἑτέρων — The preposition `διά` with the genitive case indicating agency or medium. In keeping with the theatrical metaphor, 'through others' means 'by different actors (cast)'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §10.27.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.27.1

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